Lightning’s Electric Motorcycle Dominates Pikes Peak

Lightning Motorcycles and racer Carlin Dunne dominated at this weekend’s Pikes Peak hill climb. The team beat out the entirety of the two-wheeled field, marking the first time an electric vehicle has won over its gas-powered counterparts at Pikes Peak.

But they didn’t just win the electric category, they decimated the closest gas-powered bike — a Ducati Multistrada 1200 S ridden by Bruno Langlois — who managed a time of 10:21.323.

The majority of the electric bike field posted times in the mid-12-minute range, but internal combustion continued to reign supreme on four wheels.

The headliner of the event was Sebastian Loeb in his Unlimited Class Peugeot 208 T16. That 875-hp monster absolutely ruled the mountain with a run of 8:13.878. That’s not just good enough for the overall win, but it sets a new world record, beating out the previous time by one minute and 33 seconds held by Hyundai driver Rhys Millen. Check the video of his run below.

But the electrics continued to gain ground, with none other than Nobuhiro “Monster” Tajima back on top, taking first in the EV class with his Monster Sport E-RUNNER Pikes Peak Special. Monster posted a time of 9:46.530 — the first time an EV has run under the famed 10-minute mark — and managed to place fifth overall on The Peak.

Unfortunately, the rest of the electric field didn’t fare quite as well due to rainy conditions, including snow at the top of the mountain.

And our friends from Latvia, who were running the eO PP01 andm managed to post the second fastest sector time during qualifying, crashed out during the race. Thankfully, driver Janis Horeliks was uninjured despite the massive shunt in the video below (NSFW, language).